Category: Training

Back on Track!

16/6/2015

Following a good day of rest yesterday (cycle commute not withstanding), I took myself for an experimental 5k this morning as a sort of recovery, sort of 'how will this feel?' test. I felt slow, obviously my pace has been a bit unnatural of late due to training for pacing duties and though I wasn't trying to stick to that any longer, I certainly wasn't speedy. Also, my old mate the ITB niggle was waving from the sidelines and I didn't fancy any more enthusiastic contributions from that side of things!

I was absolutely chuffed then, when following a slow pootle to work on two wheels, I realised I had next to no pain whatsoever and that the old leggies felt a lot lighter and less dull from slow running than they have done for a while. As this conveniently coincided with a rare free Tuesday evening, I took myself along to a track session with Salford Harriers at the Ethiad stadium. I'd planned to maybe plod round the track a bit anyway and really just thought I'd bob by to show my face but I felt OK so joined in with the track session. I'm never one of the fastest at track and am almost always trailing at the back but I was pretty chuffed to check my laps later and realise that I was kicking out around 6 minute mile pace, which is almost the fastest I've ever run anyway. So good to feel the wind under my tail again!

Ethiad

It was a lot warmer than this cloudy photo makes it look!

I'm not too sure of how advisable it is to do a speed interval session 48 hours after a marathon and I'm not quite convinced it's the sort of tapering one should be doing 5 days out of a 12 hour ultra either but heck, I enjoyed it and I don't feel I pushed myself beyond sense. As long as I take the remainder of the week fairly easy, I reckon it'll all be A-OK!

15th of Juneathon... Rest.

15/6/2015

Sleep

Zzzz... Yes, that really is me. Running keeps you young, right?

So here's a thing I've learned the hard way. Rest is every bit as important as exercise. We have a tendency as runners, or at least, I do and I know I'm not alone, to view the rest days on our training schedules, however vague they may be, as sort of notional, 'maybe I just don't run as hard on those days', suggestions to slack off a bit as opposed to actually stop. Rest is for the weak, for the uncommitted, for the slackers. GET ME OUT THERE, I'll sleep when I'm dead! No, rest is far more important than that, it's the time your body needs to do the actual work in terms of processing the damage you've done during your workouts into the strengthening benefits you expect.

You wouldn't eat a load of nutritious dinner whilst sitting on the toilet because you expected it to drop straight through you while you magically absorbed all the vitamins and minerals, would you? No, you'd give your stomach some time to actually digest the food before reaching for the Andrex. Thus it is also for physical activity. Sure, you can kid yourself you're a Duracell bunny, and yes, variously, we can keep going for a surprisingly long time before things start to break, but just as a bike needs some maintenance, so do our bodies and if you ignore that, the rust will creep and things will break. Eventually. There may be a long slow, gradual deterioration of performance first of course, but then there will be a breaking point and an injury. If you're reading this and going 'yeah, yeah, whatever, where are my trainers?' like I would have done this time last year then congratulations on not having broken. Yet. Now go and put your feet up. Your next run will be better for it.

Salford 10k and the Last Long One

6/4/2015

Salford 10k

Clearly having far too much fun!

Last year, when I went to cheer on a friend who was running the Salford 10k, organised by Salford Harriers at the Sports Village in Salford, I might reasonably have guessed I’d be running it myself this year but I’d have been mildly surprised to learn that I would also have joined the club! This being so, it was with a sense of slight guilt that I enjoyed participating in the event as a runner while so many familiar faces around me got stuck in to doing a fine job of organising, marshalling, dispensing race numbers and the like. There were a few other Harriers running too of course and it seems many of them did very well with a podium position for the gents and at least one new PB for the ladies. I managed a reasonably acceptable sub 45, which I didn’t think was too shoddy as a chunk of training as I approach my London Marathon taper. I treated it as a kind of tempo session, with a slightly slower 3 miles home (which turned in to 4 when I got a bit lost by the River Irwell!) tacked on the end to help make up the miles! It was a bit gloomy but nice and warm; I even took my gloves off, as you can see from the photo, gratefully, if presumptuously stolen from the Harriers' website!

A rest day on Saturday then preceded a final Long Slow Run, the Sunday staple for many marathoners! Since the weather was so glorious, I experienced no temptation to hop on the treadmill and decided to head out on a route I last ran on Summer Solstice as part of the Longest Day Run virtual challenge. You can see details of the run that day along with a few piccies of the route if you check out the 21st of June 2014 blog post, but I’ll go so far as to share yesterday’s stats too, though I didn’t take any photos. I recalled that it was around 23 miles but I guessed it would be more like 22 as I’d got a bit lost trying to get on to the Mersey. Apparently not. 23.5 miles in the heels!

I’m not going to pretend the last few miles weren’t hard but that was due to two very identifiable factors;

A) I’d underestimated the temperature and ran out of fluids so was probably a bit dehydrated and

B) that pesky old ITB started up a good effort at niggling from about mile 18, possibly exacerbated by aforementioned dehydration.

There was a point, round about mile 20, where I was wondering if I should stop and walk, such was my ‘I’m getting injured!’ maranoia, however, upon deciding that probably wouldn’t really be any less painful and would just take a lot longer, I kept it up, just at a slightly slower pace. It wasn’t that sore… I was probably just being a wuss. I got through it anyway, my leg didn’t fall off and I still did the run on average 17 seconds faster per mile than I did in the summer, which was quite gratifying really as I thought my pace had got slower and my fitness had dropped since my training went out of the window due to illness over winter.

Run Route

Run Stats

Regardless of the run stats, I’ve always maintained that you’re only as good as your recovery and so I was a little concerned how I’d be feeling, especially in the knee area, the next day. Thankfully, my recovery package of delicious (!?) soya protein shakes, foam rolling, saunas, steam rooms and compression socks seems to have been at least mostly successful and whilst I’ll not pretend I haven’t got slightly heavy and achy legs today, and yes, I can feel it in the iliotibial band, I certainly don’t appear to have injured myself. Woo hoo! Let the taper commence!

UKRunChat Inaugural Training Weekend in Anglesey

29/3/2015

UKRunChat was founded by Joe Williams and Jeff Weigh in 2013, aiming to bring runners together in a community that supported one another to achieve their goals. Since then, the Twitter account has snowballed followers and the hash tag has more interaction than ParkRun, whilst the cycle, swim and tri chat branches have also started racing from strength to strength and the whole family is now teamed under the UKSportsChat brand. This weekend was the inaugural UKRunChat training weekend in Anglesey and it was the first time that many regular ‘Tweeters’ who have been following, supporting and interacting with one another for so many months and even years finally got to put faces to @ symbols! The weekend was held at Outdoor Alternative, a group accommodation venue in Rhoscolyn, and was organised on behalf of UKRunChat by Howard Chambers, a coach with Saddleworth Runners. Howard is one of the most community-orientated and inclusive runners I’ve met on my jaunts round the races of the North West and it is absolutely a credit to his organisational skills that I’ve got home with enough energy and enthusiasm left to even contemplate writing this now! Kudos should also go to the fantastic Mrs C, who has basically spent her weekend being ‘Runner’s Mummy’, feeding and watering a hungry host of starving joggers!

We arrived at the venue on Friday night, and having seen the weather forecast for the rest of the weekend I was keen to enjoy the last of the evening sun. A few of us bobbed off on a little 5k out to a local lighthouse and lookout point in just enough time to watch the sun set over the Irish Sea. I may not have cognitively forgotten how invigorating it can be running across a field or over a coastal path but after so much city-centre based running, even where canals and parks do afford one a little bit of green, it was good to remind myself physically just how refreshing it can be. That was pretty much that for Friday; much of the gang then went off for dinner at the local pub, but being tricky to feed I’d opted to stay back and make use of the excellent self-catering facilities at ‘Base Camp’ before treating myself to an early night in one to the very comfortable and ready made-up bunks!

Friday Run

With Christine at the Lookout (Sorry Erica, I stole your pic!)

On Saturday morning, most of us (who’d not over-indulged or become otherwise less than 100% in the pub!) Set off on a 6 mile trail run. Led by Witham Runners’ ‘Drill Sergeant Dan’, we snuck in a few Fartleks before heading up off the country paths and along a coastal trail. It was windy. I mean, I know the whole of the UK has had a bit of a breeze going on these last few days but this was really windy. Feathered by tufts of the sea foam that was being whipped up and over the cliff edges like angel’s dandruff (blimey, running makes you poetic, huh!?) it was a genuine struggle at times to stay running in a straight line and one or two parts near the edge made me feel distinctly uneasy when I couldn’t tell which direction the gusts would propel me next. As such, and with some slippery paths too, I reluctantly made the decision to forego my community-running intentions and somewhat selfishly pounded off to just get back as fast as I could for some breakfast! Thankfully I wasn’t totally alone and didn’t have to feel too guilty as I was joined by Scott and Helen who kept me company as we all tried not to run into each other! We got back in one piece, thankfully, and damn that was one fine shower!

cake judgement

Let the Bake Off judging commence!

Of course I’m not the only runner obsessed with all things cakey and so it was that we returned for a post-brunch Bake Off! I was almost as impressed that one of the judges managed to correctly guess the secret ingredient to Glittermousie’s Power Balls (avocado!) as I was that the winning entry was the only other vegan confection! This means I actually got to eat some! YUM to the peanut butter and coconut bars! Actually, they were made by Erica’s husband, who wasn’t with us, but since they were plant based and delicious I am certainly not complaining!

Nom nom nom

The Winning Entry!

If that wasn’t treat enough, I was then fortunate to play very willing patient to Howard’s new sports massage skills. Now, I’d been mildly concerned that a bit of tightness in my right iliotibial band had turned in to some mild knee pain and I’d mentioned to Howard my fear (maranoia!?) that this could be about to flare up into an injury. He concentrated on this area for me and whilst I’m not sure exactly what he did beyond ironing out a couple of bobbly bits, as sure as runners eat bananas he did the trick and I jogged back down to the remainder of the Bake Off feast with barely a twinge. I was certainly right as rain to make the most of the Pilates and yoga sessions that we were treated to by visiting instructor Jay, and couldn’t feel a thing during the barefoot running technique session delivered to us on the local beach. I think I’ve been very lucky to get that in before he becomes therapist to Olympic athletes and starts charging a bomb!

On Saturday evening, we benefited from talks by Dr Juliet McGrattan, a running-sympathetic GP who writes for Women’s Running magazine (possibly a bit too much detail on bodily fluids and various swellings for some but we all learned a bit, I’m sure!) and some running theory from Drill Sgt. Dan, who talked about correct running form and efficiency to achieve running goals and stay injury free.

Beach 1

Some Angle-Scenery!

Beach 2

The setting of the barefoot running workshop...

Map

The Sunday Runday Route Map to South Stack!

Sunday is traditionally the ‘Long Slow Run’ (or LSR) day and Howard had planned a route for us that took us along the coast (all roads this time!) to a lighthouse at South Stack Cliffs. With some less sure they wanted to do the full distance, there was an option to be picked up by the van at the visitor Centre, 8 miles from base. Quite a few people decided, having got thoroughly soaked on the way there, to make the most of that option, but stubborn as ever I took the bipedal route back and was very glad I did as the rain dried up, the sun came out and the hedgerows chirped into life with spring chaffinches and blue tits. Upon making it back to camp, I had time to shower and pack before a final well timed and perfectly runner-focused yoga session to stretch out the legs before hopping on the minibus to be deposited less than 10 minutes form my front door. Now that’s what I call service!

It’s impossible to pick out a single highlight of what has been a very enjoyable (if occasionally soggy!) weekend away. I’ve tried to pick out some of the main features of the trip but could easily have said so much more and I’ve met so many friends that I couldn’t list them all. I think the best thing to end on is a reiteration of my gratitude to Howard for organising it, UKRunChat for having the vision that made the whole thing happen in the first place and of course, all the running chatters without whom the community wouldn’t even exist. I can, without a shadow of a doubt, highly recommend anyone who enjoys a bit of a run at any level to check out the next one; a weekend away in Eastbourne from the 5th to the 7th of June. And yes, before you ask, you will see me there!

Coming Through

3/2/2015

Scott Jurek quotes a favourite poet of mine, Robert Frost in chapter 1 of Eat & Run;

The best way out is always through.

This has certainly been an underlying philosophy of mine in recent weeks as I have struggled to regain balance during my experiences of some physical and mental ill health. Of course, one could argue that you don’t really have much choice sometimes and you have to just keep going regardless but there are different ways of approaching that, some more or less healthy than others.

LAST POST

In my last post, I spoke of reviewing the value in the self imposed rigours of a strict training plan, something that had clearly become a stick to beat myself with as opposed to a tool for achieving a desired outcome. As a result, I had derived a new intended method of getting myself, and we hope triumphantly so, to the finish line of the 2015 London Marathon. My new training plan can be summarised as: A speed session, some hill work, a couple of medium/recovery runs and a slow long run in most weeks aiming to be at a point about a month pre marathon where I’m doing up to 50 miles a week, 20 of those in one go about 6 weeks before marathon day with a gentle 2 week taper.

Bam. And that’s all there is to it.

As a teacher who is used to living according to timetables, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed targets, that are incessantly assessed, this vagueness allows room for serious uncertainties and as a perfectionist who needs to know she’s doing all the right things, I had opened up a potential cornucopia of anxieties. This lack of plan would be a significant challenge in its own right. Have you really ever thought about how hard it can be to not do something!? Still, despite the ebbs and flows of up and down moods, energy levels and hormone spikes I have been surfing not just the angst but also the training. And do you know what? It’s been good enough. Not perfect perhaps, there may have been days where I swam instead of ran, there may have been days where I walked instead of swam and I can even recall at least one day where I pulled the blinds, wrapped myself in a blanket and ate an obscene amount of cake instead of even leaving the house but heck, I felt better eventually! I’ve also been learning to recognise achievements even in small quantities, especially when returning to a speeds and distances that I had feared I’d never get back to; ‘OK, I may only have done it for 600m bursts but I still hit 9 mph 6 times…’

As I have been finding it hard to leave the house, I’ve also been doing a lot of, no, OK, be honest, all my running for 2015 on the treadmill in the womblike sanctuary of my gym, the one place I’ve felt able to consistently go on a regular basis. I know this isn’t great in the long term but I’m a self confessed weather-wuss at the best of times and it’s been cold! Anyway, it’s scary out there. It was a great example then of one such minor achievement when I managed my first outdoor run of the year on the 1st of February thanks to Up & Running Manchester’s Marathon Training Run. Ten miles, slow. Just what I needed and a real confidence boost. I’m getting there. I’m getting through. Sometimes, that’s the best you can be doing.

Article

'Cater for'. Heh. See what I did there??

Response

It appears I squeak not just for myself...

And a last bit of running related ‘news’, still linked in part to health. Having been struggling with weight over the last couple of years, I finally got annoyed enough to write to Runner’s World about the tendency for all running related motivational articles to be focused on weight loss from a ‘please help me shed some’ angle. You may even recall my ranting post from October in which I discussed body image in the media from the angle of one who needs to gain some. I wasn’t exactly surprised but pretty chuffed nonetheless, despite being ‘on the rocks’ in my relationship with the sport, to note that my thoughts to this effect had actually been summarised in the February edition. It was only this morning though, as I idly flicked through the March edition whilst reluctantly cross training on the gym bike (yes I am still being good with my strength work!), that I realised I must’ve made a pertinent point… Apparently a third of those who responded to the February letters page did so in order to agree with me. I cycled the next fake kilometre a little bit faster and with a broad grin on my face, feeling more part of some kind of virtual running community than I have done since I discovered UK Run Chat. 31% of those who read that letter agreed with me strongly enough to actually bother writing in to say so. And it took me at least 6 months to be arsed enough to write it! I’m looking forward to that article then, maybe it’ll help me where the GP hasn’t!

So maybe I’m not just coming through. Maybe I’m doing better than that. Maybe I’m coming back up too. Just as well really, cos I hear tell that you gotta get up to get down!

And speaking of Robert Frost in the context of endurance, it seems appropriate to end on a favourite (last) verse from his poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.”

Spiked!

4/10/2014

Pre Run Feet

Ready to Go!

Last week I fetishised my new Mizuno, proudly showing off their crisp whiteness and resolving (mentally, if not verbalised) to break them in on a treadmill before taking them into a less sterile running environment. This cautious treatment was not to be the fate of my second pair of new running shoes in less than a week! Having semi-accidentally agreed to run for Salford Harriers in the Woodbank Park Cross Country race next Saturday, I realised it would probably be a good idea to do a little research into exactly what ‘cross country’ involves. My only previous experience of this was a far distant school memory, where I trudged at the back with the walkers as my speedier and more athletic class mates shot off over the Chessington countryside before returning with a mysteriously joyous glow, which at the time I simply could not understand the origin of.

I always suspected that the ‘cross country’ lesson was a default for when the teacher hadn’t had time to prepare anything more structured and whilst I enjoyed the countryside (and frequently walked in it in my own time anyway for this very reason) I couldn’t understand for one minute why on earth you’d want to run through it. Hah! (Incidentally I also recall stating very firmly at the age of about 8 or 9 when I first discovered the concept of vegetarianism that I would never be one of those either. I love proving myself wrong.) Well, those old school running demons were soundly slain about 2 decades later when I returned to visit my mum earlier in the year and took myself off on a rather muddy run to discover the source of my classmate’s apparent triumph in the woods. Satisfying but not exactly race-standard. Research into this strange new running discipline suggested I should probably procure a pair of ‘spikes’ and so I capitalised on my staff discount at Up & Running to treat myself to a pair of Brooks Mach 16. It seemed neither practical, nor appropriate to break these in on a treadmill and so I made the most of a free and fine afternoon to take myself off to Heaton Park to combine my Friday Hill Reps with some grassy-spike-action! I’d never want to run a race in new shoes anyway and since I had no experience in these toothed beauties, I didn’t want to leave it to chance and find myself bitten!

After a gentle cycle up to the park, I pitched up near the best-bin-in-the-world-ever and laced up. My first impression was how bloomin’ tight the damn things were despite having gone a whole size bigger, but I’d been told by my colleague that they were supposed to be so I ignored the bipedal-claustrophobia and got to it. Not so bizarre until I was forced onto a path, at which point I was not sure which was potentially sustaining more damage, the spikes or the concrete! I was surprised to discover that my first warm-up mile, which felt like a ten minute mile plod, actually trotted by in a round 8 minutes 30. Hmm. Not so bad then. Another mile later and I had selected a small hill upon which to conduct my main training. Now, I say ‘small hill’, perhaps ‘short’ might be a more accurate adjective. I’ve not bothered to work out the incline but I suspect it is steeper than the 7% I have been becoming accustomed to on the dreadmill, however, what it offered in gradient it lacked in distance and I found myself powering up it in a fairly consistent 18 seconds. I’ve been doing 60 second reps in the gym, though definitely at a gentler slope, so this seemed a reasonable alternative. I recently read an article that suggested hill reps should be at periods of around that anyway so perhaps it’s not so much of a trade off!

FROG BIN

BEST BIN EVVVAAAARRR!

Heaton Hill

A deceptive view from the top of my hill

Post Run Feet

A disappointing lack of mud... I did run! Honest!

Mararthon Mag

Marathon News; how to get 'chugged' in your own living room.

Though I could feel the steeper hill forcing different muscles to work (no bad thing!) I found it pretty easy to handle the sub 20 second times and happily churned out about 15 of these (maybe more, I lost count and erred on the side of caution a couple of times), much to the amusement of the picnickers based at the bottom. I rounded off with a gentle, exploratory 2 mile cool down, the main feature of which was accidentally irritating a few golfers (whoops, sorry, coming through!), before finishing the whole run with a total of around 5 miles in about 45 minutes. Disappointingly, despite my best efforts, I failed to find any mud to splash through and so the shoes are still virgin pink. Oh well; an ironic complaint from the woman who has decided that the tenth anniversary of ParkRun is officially rained off. I shall have to be careful what I wish for as I’ve seen the forecast for next week and suspect the race proper may be a slightly wetter affair.

Other running-related titbits from this week include a bumper feast of goodies with the arrival of a UKRunChat Challenge medal (which I feel rather unearned in comparison to the efforts of Jeff and Joe), my October Joggbox (contents yet to be explored), a crisp new copy of The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distance by The Oatmeal (already devoured and laughed manically over) and last but certainly not least, my copy of the London Marathon 2015 magazine. Only 6 months to go! Maybe if I start running faster I’ll get there quicker!?

Finally, the arrival of this magazine prompted me to set up my Just Giving Page in preparation for the Marathon, which will be my fund raising race for the year in memory of my best mate Giles, who we lost 2 years ago to the day. I will be running for the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust and you can see my donations page here.

Heaton Sky

An October sky on the 2nd anniversary of Giles' death

Giles

Poetry in Motion

27/9/2014

September is always a busy month. As a teacher, work tends to ‘hit the fan’ as it were, and don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but bloomin’ ‘eck I’m glad when October rolls around and things calm down a bit! There always seems to be a multitude of other stuff that congregates around September too… Arts meetings, delivering workshops, attending workshops; and then there’s just the experience of getting back in to a routine after the summer.

Since I last posted an update (about the City of Salford 10k) I’ve also been getting more comfortable with cycling being a part of my daily routine, having now cycled to and from work for three weeks in a row. Not sure how long I’ll be able to keep that up as the days get shorter and colder, as well as potentially wetter, but so far so good. I’ve really noticed the change my body has made to adapt to this new activity too; my glutes are definitely much stronger (excuse the personal details!) and I appear to have developed a subtle six pack. I’m not sure I’d have put this at the top of my list of aims and objectives but at least it’ll make me a stronger runner! I’ve had to be realistic though, about the stresses this has been putting on El Boddo and I’ve been feeling it in my knees, weirdly. As such, my running mileage has (temporarily!) dropped a bit more than I’d have liked it to in recent weeks and I’ve also been feeling a little run down (no pun intended) over the last week or so. I’ve never been very good at taking the rest, despite knowing full well how important it is and find it very frustrating. However, part of being good at something is doing the bits you find hard as well as the bits you enjoy and so I’ve swallowed my pride and been sensible, cutting down on the running in order to let my core strength and fitness catch up with this new cycling lark. I’m feeling quite a bit better now I’ve rested a bit though and this weekend I put together a new training plan to get me through to the Lancaster Half Marathon that I have registered for on the 2nd of November! Nothing like a set goal to get you going!

And on the subject of rest… next Thursday is National Poetry Day. The theme is ‘Remember’. I’m bending the rules a little, perhaps but this cheesy little ditty is something I wrote to help me remember that taking rest days are important.

There is Found a Strength in Weakness

There is found a strength in weakness,
There is value in the tears
That oil the wheels of power;
That grease the grinding gears.

There is made a strength in weakness,
There is honour in the rest
That drives the fighter forward;
Fresh to rise above the best.

There is born a strength from weakness,
To feed the gentler needs
And then from fallow ground can burst
Great trees from fragile seeds.

Take strength to be your weakness,
To hoe the tangled weeds
And then to reap the fruits
That the humble moment breeds.

New Mizuno

One of the things that contributed to the busyness of September was also an exciting and running-related event in its own right; I have now completed a Leadership in Running Fitness course and as soon as my latest DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) Check is complete and returned to England Athletics. I will be licensed to run affiliated running groups. This is quite an important development for me. I always think you learn so much about a subject from passing skills and knowledge on to others and assuming I do manage to get something going, I know I will derive a lot of enjoyment from helping others to improve their running and discover all the sport has to offer, just as I have done. Watch this space, especially if you’re near Manchester; you could be plodding with the Runnermouse sooner than you think!

Think that’s about as much as I have to say for now, aside from another ‘thank you’ to Cannonball Events for the prize voucher for coming first woman overall in the Todmorden 5k series. The shoes I bought with it (Mizuno Wave Sayonara; the ‘upgrade’ of the model I ran the marathon and many other races in) arrived this morning (see above!) and I am confident that they, along with the motivation of my new training plan will get me back in the swing of things pretty soon!

ParkRun Sandwich!

16/8/2014

It's not been an especially remarkable week for running really; I've still been in semi recovery while continuing to experience some knee and shoulder pain as well as reduced mobility in my shoulder. It's been getting steadily and noticeably a little better every day though so I feel reasonably optimistic about the Thames Meander Half Marathon next Saturday. With this rapidly approaching, I have been following a basic training schedule this week despite the discomfort; a track session with Salford Harriers on Tuesday (16 x 200m), a little run out for fun on Thursday, a treadmill hill reps session on Friday... and lots of swimming and cross training. I've not even been able to do a lot of strength/core exercise or yoga because of my shoulder... at least I can run though!
Here's a couple of screen shots just for illustration purposes really... The track session average pace looks rubbish but now I have finally discovered the lap button on the Garmin, I know my fastest 200 meter rep pace was of 5.49 (slowest was 6.04), which is surprising as I felt a lot slower and was firmly at the back of the pack! A boring heart rate chart for the treadmill hill session (6% inclines at 8mph) but it made me laugh... Can you spot the toilet break!? Ha ha.

Tuesday Track

Tuesday Track

Hill Reps

Hill Reps Heart Rate

So, all in all a fairly standard week and not much to write home (or blog) about really, in fact well done if you stayed awake for that bit, you must be an even more obsessive runner than I am! Things, you'll be pleased to know if you are actually reading this, got a tickle more interesting today though... I wanted to do a 13.1 miler this weekend to feel prepared for next Saturday. As the weather looks horrible on the forecast for tomorrow, Saturday (also being a full week away from the event) was definitely the day of choice... BUT... as a Saturday when I am actually home and free... I also fancied ParkRun. Whattayagonnado!? Well. (5 miles from my house to Heaton Park) + (5k ParkRun [3.1 miles]) + (5 miles from Heaton Park to my house) = 13.1 miles. Bazinga. You do both. You have yourself a Saturday Morning Heaton ParkRun Sandwich!

Sandwich Stats

The (Somewhat Questionable) Stats

Now, I have no idea what Mr Garmino was playing at when we (you never run alone with a Garmin!) set off as I am sadly unable to claim that I ran my first mile in three minutes and forty four seconds (wtf!?), however it must have sorted itself out as I didn't slow to an almost 12 minute mile half way up Cheetham Hill either. I'm certainly confident it was doing the right thing by the time I got to the race as my official ParkRun time of 24.01 matches pretty closely with the 23.98 minutes you get if you add up the lap times for that chunk of the run, allowing too for a couple of seconds for me to remember to hit the lap (and pause!) buttons. Of course, nestling in between two 5 mile runs (and still feeling it in my knee) I wasn't exactly racing today and it made me laugh when I was overtaken by a guy pushing a buggy. 'That's the epitome of embarrassing!' I quipped and was kind of sad when I went past him again. 'Oh, you're trying now are you!?' I was asked; 'Nah, you're just getting tired!'. I love that about ParkRun. It really is about the community and the fun and the shared passion. Today I also wondered about the running-in-a-pack thing. I love running alone and never feel freer, though there's something kind of primordially instinctive about running in a group. It certainly supports the hypothesis that it's something we used to do when hunting; not outrunning quarry in terms of speed but through sheer stamina and there's nothing that keeps you going quite like the energy from the crowd.

Well. That and the energy gels of course and today I tried out a High 5 gel from my first JoggBox. I don't use gels that often but I cracked this one open on my way out of the park as I figured I needed to use up some of my hoard and it might make the last chunk of the run a little more... zingy. I found it incredibly sweet but then I don't really 'do' much in the way of refined sugars (Even when indulging my cake habit I tend to rely on natural sweetness from fruit, etc.) so perhaps I am more likely to notice that. It did the job though; it was really windy for a lot of the way back and I'm sure I used up all that extra energy just battling into it pretty much all the way into city centre!

Sandwich Route

The Sandwich Route!

I was home at about 20 past 10; just enough time for a stretch before Radio 4's Kitchen Cabinet (something I also enjoy when I am actually in on a Saturday to hear it!) and a cup of Moringa Tea, my favourite discovery so far from JoggBox. Apparently it's good for recovery as it has anti inflammatory properties. I just really like the flavour, it reminds me of some teas I had in China and Japan that I think were made from roasted barley.

Moringa Tea

Moringa Tea for Recovery! (No, I'd never heard of it either and yes, it does taste better out of a Moomin mug)

So there you have it! A very satisfying start to a Saturday! At an hour and 45 mins total running time, it's not exactly my best for the distance but it's not bad for a training run, especially as I've been focusing on much shorter distances lately. A week of gentle tapering is now on the cards I think (though maybe I'll squeeze in one more track session before I start that too seriously!) and then a Meander down the Thames! We've been warned to kit out in rain wear and trail shoes and that some of the path gets muddy, so I'm not expecting a PB but I am expecting to enjoy a mosey down by my favourite river and I reckon by then I should be pretty much back to what passes for normal... watch this space!

An Experiment...

8/7/2014

On the last Run2Work Day, I wondered what it would be like to approach a run-commute from the other end and run home. Today seemed as good a day as any and being a Tuesday, this would take me past the athletics centre at the Etihad Stadium where the Salford Harriers would be meeting for their weekly speed interval session on the track. As such, the other half of the experiment was what it would be like to do a speed interval session off the back of a six to seven mile 'warm up'. Always up for a challenge and being the sort of runner who naturally runs negative splits I figured this wouldn't be too strenuous, since I always run the two miles there and back from my flat anyway.

Canal exit

The Concealed Entrance!

This was also an opportunity to try and work out from the other direction why exactly I have ended up getting a bit confused getting from the Ashton Canal up on to the road on the two occasions recently when I have run to work. coming form the other direction I thought, might help me work out what the heck was going on. Sure enough, less than a 5 minute warm up from the college, I found myself able to access the canal exactly where I had expected to exit it when running from Manchester. I think this photo is a pretty good visualisation of why I missed it though! You really have to know what you are looking for! Hopefully things will be a bit smoother at that point next time!

Apart from a couple of light showers (not really any bother) the run down went well and I was pleased that I managed to time it exactly right to arrive at the centre for 6.40; the time at which I get a slightly reduced entry rate! I felt warmed up after 6.74 miles and good to go. Unfortunately, the others had also gone out on a warm up and we didn't get started on the speed work until about quarter past 7 by which time I was well and truly cooled down and starting to flag. I did complete the session (6 sprinting reps each of 300, 200 and 100 meters) but I wasn't running at my strongest. In fact, I might even have walked home if I hadn't been quite hungry by then and just wanting to get back as fast as possible!

To conclude, the experiment was semi-successful. I got more familiar with the run to work route, still did the session anyway and demonstrated that I can pace accurately when needed but I might not make a habit of it as it did affect my track performance I think. If I do that again, I think I'll leave later and avoid the big long cool down, or maybe take a gel with me so I can re-fuel quickly before the session!

The best bit about the evening was getting my official club kit shirt! I'm looking forward to wearing that soon and "representin' my bredren, yo!" though we'll have to hope I go a bit quicker than tonight or else they may not want me on their stats anyway!

It Isn't Easy Being Keen...

5/7/2014

Those of you who read this on any kind of regular basis will probably have worked out by now that I love running. I run lots. I run more than I possibly should. I don't care. I love the feeling of being in motion, the calm clarity if brings to my mind, the buzz when I've finished a hard session, the peace when I've had an easy one. I like running with people, I like running alone. I run for fun, to get fitter, to get faster, to be able to go for longer. I run because I'm happy, I run because I'm stressed, anxious, unhappy or fractious. I run to things, I run away from them, I run up stuff and I run down the other side. I don't mind if people describe me as obsessive because frankly, I don't really understand the difference between obsessive and passionate anyway. The way I see it, there's a lot worse stuff I could be doing.
I know that to those less passionate/obsessive than me, my apparently endless enthusiasm for the sport probably seems hard to fathom. I'm the annoying bright and breezy runner that glides past those hauling themselves through yet another 45 minutes of torture along the canal with as much confusion with regards to their pained expressions as they have for my euphoric one. I know I probably make it look easy, like I put no effort in, that it comes naturally, that, excuse the cliché, I was 'born to run'.
Well I wasn't. I struggled when I first started running but I kept at it. Then when the bug bit, I struggled a bit more to get a but better, a bit further a bit faster. And then again, pushing just a little more, digging a little deeper, trying a little harder. Through that effort, i have genuinely arrived at a point where i honestly want to run almost every day. Yeah. That's right. Almost. And on those almost days, the chances are I might still run anyway. On Friday I wanted to do a speed session, probably my last really hard one before I try and break 40 on a 10k in about a week. I didn't really feel like it but I did it anyway, after quite a bit of prevaricating, then I drew this picture of what it was like inside my brain. Enjoy.

Mousedebate

Glittermouse is a visual artist, educator and practising Buddhist who also likes a bit of a run from time to time. In 2014, she realised others could benefit quite a lot from her reflections on running trials, tribulations, triumphs and trip-ups… so she added another volume to her package of blogging adventures.

You can find out more and source links to other projects on the 'home' page of this site.

Mandala

Categories